Shark Found Dead Under Subway Seat

Brandon Sanchez stumbled across this scene when he board the N train at Canal Street in New York City early Wednesday morning. "Gotta love NYC," he posted on his Instagram. / BRANDON SANCHEZ/@BSANCHEZ ON INSTAGRAM VIA CBS NEWS

A fishy New York City subway ride gave some straphangers a whole new meaning to "Shark Week."

MTA officials confirmed to CBS New York that a dead shark around one to two feet long was found underneath a seat on the Queens-bound N train early Wednesday morning.

A woman named Mary told local blog Gothamist that she came across a relatively empty car and a putrid smell when she got on the subway at 34th Street just after midnight.

"One of my fellow passengers remarked 'I've been riding the subway for 15 years, and this is the weirdest think I've seen. And I've seen EVERYTHING,'" the tipster wrote.

Brandon Sanchez, who snapped a picture of the shark (above) and put it on Instagram, told CBS Radio affiliate 1010 WINS he noticed the dead animal while getting on the train at the Canal Street stop.

"My theory is that it's someone playing a practical joke," Sanchez. "It seemed like whoever brought the shark on the train already bought it dead. I don't think anyone killed the shark."

Isvette Verde also took an Instagram of the shark. ""I thought I'd seen it all, but even that was a bit much," she told CBS New York in an email.

Others joked about the coincidence that the television special "Shark Week" is currently airing on the Discovery Channel.

Eventually, a conductor isolated the car and the train continued on to Ditmar Boulevard, where a supervisor threw it out in the trash, CBS New York reported.

An MTA spokesman gave a tongue-in-cheek response to the incident.

"Live sharks are wrangled by Shark Maintainer IIs, who have passed the qualification test and have minimum three years in the Shark Maintainer I title. Dead ones are handled by Shark Maintainer Is, or if none are available on that shift, then by Aquatic Mammal Handler IIs."